Official Luthiers Forum!

I can't prove anything about the tone of a guitar, but I could clearly hear the difference with and without the PlateMate. Very metallic tone with it and not so without it. I don't think a PlateMate adds a significant weight to the system, I don't have one to weigh (for obvious reasons!), so I don't actually know how heavy it is.

The weight of the bridge/pins/plate is of course very important, but I think it's wrong to explain any change in tone in a guitar with weights alone, it's too easy. I believe different hardness and materials also have an important role when it comes to tone.

If any has a chance they should really read Rogers article in American Lutherie.

It was the winter issue, #144. I'm just plugging it (pun intended ) as it's totally relevant to this discussion on plugging bridge patches. It's obvious he put a lot of work into it and he presents some data on various plugs. I don't necessarily see myself following this path at this point in time as I try not to do too many repairs. But I do think if someone was interested in plugging a bridge patch, it'd be some food for thought.

Caps are a great answer especially for the crowd that does not want metal in their guitar and thinks that there may be a tonal impact (there isn't but they think that anyway....). A cap can be banged out in three minutes .055" thick, good ole Michigan rock maple and no need to purchase anything from anyone. In either case consideration for possible pick-up interference in installation should be considered as well.

But the best solution is a slotless pin conversion cap or saver and refitting the instrument for slotless pins. We have restored 1870's Martins with slotless pins and there was zero bridge plate wear.

Bridge plate wear on modern steel strings is actually a fairly newer thing and resulting from some genius at a f*ctory determining that if they used mass produced, cheap plastic bridge pins with slots in them they would not have to pay semi-skilled labor to slot the bridge, top and plate for slotless pins as it was in the past.

But what no one cared about or knew is the slot in the pin and to a lesser degree the taper at 5 degrees permits the string balls to eat away at the edges of the pin holes and that's what results over time in bridge plate wear. Unslot the pins and properly fit the instrument for this and there is no bridge plate wear. 3 degree pins do better too, unslotted in keeping the string balls from the edges of the string holes.

My business partner David Colling presented a talk on this subject at one of the Northwoods seminars and he called it the "Deevolution of the Bridge Pin." Many of you who have come to classes at our place may remember the posters on the wall describing this.